Competency-based training - Part 1

Paulette Dunn-Smith, Contributor

Over the next two weeks I will be focusing on an area that many individuals view as being relevant only to skills training and specifically for persons at the lower level of the skills training band, that of competency-based training (CBT). There are several misconceptions regarding this approach to training due primarily to the fact that not much is known about its transformational qualities in increasing workforce productivity at all levels of the workforce from the plant floor to the boardroom. This week I will explain what CBT is and why many international agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) the World Bank, UNESCO, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), CARICOM and so forth have endorsed this approach for workforce training.

Competency-based training is a strategy which revolves around what is essential for all students or learners to "be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences". Competence describes a person's ability to perform to a satisfactory level in the workplace including the ability to transfer and apply skills, knowledge and most importantly, values and attitude to new situations, to achieve outcomes which have been agreed to, by the industry or sector. CBT goes by many names: outcomes-based, standards-based, performance-based training, high performance learning and transformational education.

Regardless of the name, many companies now find it necessary to align their training with workplace outcomes so as to gain real return on the investment that they put into training, hence the growth of interest in the area by many training institutions globally to align their programmes with industry requirements. Educators in higher institutions are also aligning their curricula to the professional requirements in the workplace in order to equip their graduates with the knowledge, skills and attributes to perform well when they join the workforce.

improving skills

Competency-based training (CBT) has been around since the 1960s and '70s, when it was used in the United States to improve teacher training. It was embraced by the United Kingdom in the 1980s for vocational education and training, then adopted by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore, and by the 1990s utilised by accreditation bodies in the USA and renamed Outcomes Assessment in Higher Education. Since then, CBT has gained much traction in enterprises over the past 20 years as it has sought to embed quality in all organisational processes. The requirements (standards) of the workplace are transferred to the training process, so that individuals who are trained on these standards are fit for the job in which they are placed.

Competency-based training is now a current topic in education, businesses and governments worldwide. Training Magazine, refers to competence as:

"A cluster of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes that affects a major part of one's job (a role or responsibility), that correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured against well-accepted standards, and that can be improved via training and development." These competencies are gained through a multitude of ways - life experience, formal education, apprenticeship, on-the-job experience, self-directed learning, and through training and developmental programmes. All of these together contribute to job competence in an employee.

A quick search found several universities, those in the health profession - medicine, dentistry and nursing - agriculture, education and information technology, utilising competency-based curricula. At the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) for example, it is recognised that being a good doctor requires more than just strong scientific knowledge and excellent clinical skills. Many key qualities are essential to providing comprehensive care, including the abilities to communicate effectively with patients and colleagues, act in a professional manner, develop an awareness of values and prejudices, and provide care with an understanding of the cultural and spiritual dimensions of patients' lives. To ensure that their graduates demonstrate this range of abilities, IUSM has undertaken a substantial transformation of its curriculum to implement one that is competency-based requiring the demonstration of proficiency in core areas with the supporting moral, professional, and humane values.

Pepperdine University also recently embarked on delivering competency-based practices and the results they say have been "extraordinary", the university has gained more credibility with faculty, students, and staff. Similar sentiments stretch across the world, from universities in Australia and Singapore to China, the Netherlands, Canada and the UK There is even a fully accredited online university supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is entirely competency-based, which has seen phenomenal enrolment and virtually 100 per cent placement rates of its graduates.

Beyond skills

CBT goes beyond just tasks or skills, and demands that students demonstrate challenging tasks such as writing project proposals, completing projects and analysing cases. These exercises require students to think, create, innovate, problem-solve, question, research and develop competencies which make them fit comfortably in teams in the modern workplace as they are able to transfer the skills as well as academic success to the workplace. There is a high, consistent level of success with this approach to training and learning. Given the effects of globalization and the need to become internationally competitive, it becomes almost an imperative that we rethink the way individuals are trained or prepared for the world of work.

Next week in Part II, we will look at the principles of competency-based education and training and its applicability to improving the productivity of the Jamaican workforce.

Paulette Dunn-Smith is an international trainer and workforce-development expert. She is the executive director, Dunn, Pierre, Barnett & Associates Ltd & chairman, Caribbean Career and Professional Development Institute. Contact her at prune@dpbglobal.comma or wow.dpbglobal.comma.